The tension rocking the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has been further heightened with the recent declaration of member of House of Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele, to contest the 2014 governorship election in the State against his friend, incumbent and party member, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
The fear among many top members of the party is that if nothing is urgently done douse this tension, the party might lose the state to other political parties, majorly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is desperately seeking to penetrate the southwest, or the Labour Party, which the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, is working so hard to achieve.
Many party chieftains in Lagos, who spoke with Huhuonline.com on Sunday, said the party is currently at a dead end as to how best to assuage Opeyemi Bamidele to allow Fayemi run for a second term in office.
A member of the Lagos State executive of the committee explained that party stalwarts had made several attempts to urge Bamidele to allow Governor Fayemi as the APC flagbearer in the election to no avail.
“We do not know why he has become very desperate to be governor. He is a prominent member of the party and should know that though it is not written, the tradition has been that a member occupying a position is allowed two terms in office except under very few situations. We are left confused as to why he is doing this,” he said.
Bamidele, a former Commissioner of Information in Lagos State is said to have concluded the plot to defect if he is not given the opportunity to take over the seat from Fayemi who he reportedly brought into the ‘fold’.
When he first declared interest months back, the party leaders rallied round themselves to pressure him to rescind the stand, a move he refused. As a result, the National Leader of the party and former Governor of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, publicly declared his support for the incumbent Governor and endorsed him for a second term.
Bamidele, who relaxed his plans after the endorsement of Fayemi, is said to be latching in on the absence of Tinubu in the country. Tinubu has been in a London hospital over claims of undergoing a knee surgery.
In a deft move recently, Bamidele, the legislator representing Ado-Ekiti/Irepodun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, sent an open letter to Fayemi to formally inform the latter of his ambition to contest against him in the forthcoming election. He did not however state if he hopes to achieve his ambition through the APC, though he had, sometime ago, declared that he had other political parties opened to him to actualtise his dream.
In the letter, Bamidele said: “on my own part, Your Excellency, I give you my word that much as I am resolved to offer myself for leadership in response to the popular demand of our people in Ekiti, which is consistent with my own personal yearning and aspiration to create a new and united Ekiti State, I will not deviate from making it a campaign of issues, policies and programmes aimed at breaking new grounds while recognizing the labour of our heroes past and present.”
He also made attempt to launch his independent campaign group, Ekiti Bibiire Coalition in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, recently, but was prevented by the police as well as loyalists of Fayemi.
Party chiefs told Huhuonline.com that Bamidele had become a thorn in the party. “If we suspend or expel him now, there are many parties waiting to receive him into the fold. But the fact he should remember is that it is better to be a landlord forever than become tenant after owning a house,” the party member said.
He recalled other incidents where some party members had defected to other parties simply because of lack of patience only for them to lose political relevance. ” Hope you remember some of such situations. So if Bamidele is your friend, remind him of what happened to the former CBN Governor (Charles Soludo) after defecting to APGA from PDP just to ensure that he contested for the governorship seat,” he said.
Sources in the party said that the party is making a last minute effort to salvage the crisis before it tears the APC in the state apart. The sources also said the party had not reviewed its support for Fayemi.
“But the incumbent Governor has to put his house in order. I don’t know if you are aware of the resignation of one of the governor’s aides recently,” a source said adding that such resignation could further deepen the resentment some people have for the Governor.
Prince Akin Olayisade, Special Adviser to Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State on Project Monitoring recently resigned claiming accusing the Governor of relegating him and his responsibilities.
In a letter obtained by Huhuonline.com, Olayisade claimed that since his appointment, the Governor had rejected all his ideas as well as barred him from functioning in the capacity for which he was appointed. He told the Governor that he could no longer continue being a member of the cabinet whose only presence is during the weekly State Executive Council meeting.
Bamidele, on his own, has continued to stress that he is not scared of the party’s action since according to him, his political activities have always been within the dictates of the Nigerian constitution
In his reaction to the disruption of the launch of his political organisation, he stressed: “apart from about 40 of my supporters that are in detention, many of them had fled into the bush as a result of threats from government’s officials, particularly Governor Fayemi political aides. Some of them are even in the hospital because of fatal injuries they sustained.
“I have decided to surrender myself to the Police because if there is anybody to be arrested in connection with the rally , it has to be me. But I want to state that no amount of intimidation will make me withdraw from the race…I am a Lawyer and a Federal Legislator. Section 99 is very clear on what a politician must do under this circumstance.
“What we did was not a campaign but the launching of Ekiti Bibire coalition. We did not parade political placards and banners or campaign about 2014, so the insinuation was wrong.
“The kind of solidarity I received from Ekiti people had further strengthened my resolve in the race. I have gone beyond a point where one can be contemplating withdrawal . It will be amounted to betrayal of trust if I do that at this point. I want to declare that the Police had helped in the success of my declaration. Though, they fired teargas at my supporters, but they were the ones in conjunction with the men of the Nigerian Army that removed all the barricades mounted by the hoodlums that took over the Ado Ekiti capital city in the morning.
“The attempt made by agents of government to disrupt the rally had actually announced me to the people. When you are favoured by God, it is your enemies that will announce you. They thought they will use the power of incumbency to outspend us, but the will of God and the power of the people shall prevail in the end.”
Meanwhile, the Afenifere Renewal Group on Sunday declared that it has endorsed Governor Kayode Fayemi for a second term in office.
The group said the endorsement, which was announced at a press conference in Ado Ekiti, ended a three-day Governance Assessment Tour of the group to the state, during which it inspected a number of projects and listened to presentations from representatives of government agencies.
The group’s national chairman, Olawale Oshun, a former chief whip of the House of Representatives, said Fayemi’s sterling performance deserves an unopposed ticket for a second term and a massive victory at the polls.
“Fayemi’s policies are not just about executing projects, they are focused on human developmental goals. He has also shown he could uphold the the welfarism ethos of our founding fathers as espoused by the movement led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
“With what we have seen, we can boldly say that Ekiti State is ready to tap into regional, national, and global economic potentials while also developing its local economies to global standards,” Oshun said.
He enjoined Ekiti residents, especially the youth, to shun the prevalent get-rich-quick syndrome and beggarly lifestyle that is begining to take root in our culture. He advised them to “key into the new policies of goverment on agriculture, knowledge economy, and information technology.”
Responding to questions from journalists, Oshun said the group has also observed areas that needed improvements and will duly inform Fayemi of such. He also said in a presidential system, a performing governor or president deserves reelection automatically for the sake of stability and continuity.
Earlier, the group’s General Secretary, Ayo Afolabi, explained that ARG in May set up a Governance Assessment Committee to examine the policies of governors of states in Western Nigeria. The motive for this, he said, was to makesure governments in the region are adhering to its political agenda and philosophy.
The committee, headed by famous Nigerian footballer, Chief Olusegun Odegbami, contracted a leading consulting firm to do an independent research on policies of Ekiti State under Governor Fayemi.
While reading the committee’s report, Odegbami said the governor was assessed based on the six criteria enunciated in the Minimum Irreducible Demand charter adopted by the Yoruba Assembly. The criteria are education, healthcare, wealth creation, infrastructure, water supply, and governance and regional integration.
He said the state’s economy, before Fayemi came in, depended heavily on federal allocations and civil service jobs. But in three years, Fayemi has created new economies and the state looks poised to break its dependence on federal allocation. He commended Fayemi’s prudence and for being “a model of global best practices in governance,” adding that the governor’s performance surpassed the committee’s standards.
“He was the first governor to implement social security fund for elders and now, about three other states have followed suit. About 1, 100km of roads, out of 1, 300 federal and state roads in the state have been constructed or under construction. This excellent network of roads is good for agriculture and tourism, ” he said.
The committee’s report concluded that “another term in office for Governor Kayode Fayemi can only mean continuity of his blazing governance based on globally accepted principles of democracy and participatory governance.
“Therefore, the committee endorses him for re-election and enjoins residents of Ekiti State to vote massively for him in the forthcoming gubernatorial election. For now, Governor Kayode Fayemi hold
